Region

First-year MBA students to compete in case competitions at Kelley school

From 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. Friday, graduate students in the Kelley School of Business will be able to practice case interviewing skills in the 2006 "March Madness" Mini-Case Competition. The event, which the Consulting Club of the Kelley school planned, will take place on the graduate side of the business school. Gayatree Jain, a junior MBA candidate, directed the competition.

Taste of Asia to offer food, cultural performances

The IU Auditorium will be filled Sunday with an array of sounds and scents as the IU Asian American Association holds its annual Taste of Asia cultural event. From 5:30 to 8 p.m., the audience can view acts such as Tae Kwon Do demonstrators and Chinese yo-yo performers and be served a range of cuisine from local Asian restaurants.

Professor discusses author's life in concentration camp

Matei Calinescu, professor emeritus of comparative literature and West European studies at IU, discussed author Norman Manea's memoir "The Hooligan's Return" in his lecture Thursday morning in the Indiana Memorial Union Oak Room.

Speaker: Nuclear weapons in Iran could lead to arms race

If Iran attains nuclear weapons, it could lead to a new arms race in the Mideast and the end of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, said Bradley Gordon, an expert on the region at a lecture Thursday night.

Event showcases sounds, sights of Southeast Asia

A unique event titled "Finding Resonance: Sounds and Chronicles From the World We Walk In" will take place at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the John Waldron Arts Center located at 122 S. Walnut St. Produced by IU senior Zak Rosen, the evening will feature sound collages, audio documentaries and other sound compilations.

Beat boxer brings talents to Bloomington

Beat box actor Yuri Lane will be performing his narrative drama "From Tel Aviv to Ramallah" at 8 p.m. tonight at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. The performance, which debuted in 2003 at the New York City Hip-Hop Theater Festival, has been on tour ever since, showing primarily at festivals and on college campuses.

Students invited to InMotion Dance company workshop this weekend

Tick. Tick. Boom. The InMotion Dance Explosion Workshop 2006 will detonate in rhythm at 11 a.m. Sunday in the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation room 169 and end at 4 p.m. Dancers ages 15 and older are welcome. The full workshop will cost $15, and a half-day is $10.

Actor's passion to rise in 'Our Country's Good' tonight

Student response mixed on departure

Junior Matt Conroy is embarrassed to be a Hoosier fan right now.

Search for replacement as up in the air as ever

After two conflicting reports in as many days from www.ESPN.com, more questions than answers surround IU's search for its next men's basketball coach. Tuesday night, ESPN columnist Andy Katz reported that Iowa coach Steve Alford was expected to interview with the University of Missouri today.

END OF THE ROAD

Portland woman planning 56th straight state tourney finals

PORTLAND, Ind. -- Doris Northam hadn't planned to attend the Indiana high school boys' basketball finals this year. After all, she's 87 years old, climbing stairs is difficult and, frankly, her interest just wasn't there anymore. But when her hometown team Jay County advanced to the Class 3A championship game, Northam decided to make the trek to Indianapolis one more time -- her 56th finals tourney in a row. "When I was a kid, you know, you went to church and you went to ball games. And that was your entertainment. It was just natural to me," said Northam, who has tickets for all four games at Conseco Fieldhouse on Saturday. "I would have been so disappointed if I had given up on going," she told The Commercial Review.

Oden named Naismith award winner

INDIANAPOLIS -- Greg Oden of Lawrence North High School was named Naismith high school player of the year Wednesday by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. The award, given each year to the top male and female high school players in the nation, will be presented March 29 at the McDonald's All-American Game in San Diego.

A problem with color: The only one that matters is green

Without kicker Adam Vinatieri the New England Patriots would just be another one-team, one-year Super Bowl champion. Without Vinatieri, the Patriots would not have beaten the Oakland Raiders in the snow in the AFC Championship game, and the Tuck Rule would still apply to guys who sit in class day-dreaming. Without Vinatieri, the Patriots would have given Kurt Warner his second Super Bowl ring. And now the Patriots are without Vinatieri.

Soriano finally agrees to move to left field for Nationals

JUPITER, Fla. -- Alfonso Soriano's only chance in left field Wednesday was a reminder of the good old days, before the Washington Nationals finally persuaded him to change positions. Soriano jogged in a few steps to catch a routine fly ball by Albert Pujols, then threw to second base to double off David Eckstein. "I never think I'm going to make a double play in the outfield," Soriano said. "But I did it." Soriano agreed to make the move from second base only two days after refusing to take his new spot in the outfield. The Nationals had a day off Tuesday, giving him time to accept the switch.

WEST BANK DISSENT

Troops capture 50 insurgents after deadly 2-hour gunbattle

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Insurgents attacked a police station Wednesday for the second day in a row, but U.S. and Iraqi forces captured 50 of them after a two-hour gunbattle. About 60 gunmen attacked the police station in Madain, south of Baghdad, with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic rifles, said police Lt. Col. Falah al-Mohammadawi. U.S. troops and a special Iraqi police unit responded, catching the insurgents in crossfire, he said.

Security Council conflicted on Iran issue

UNITED NATIONS -- U.N. Security Council members sought to break a deadlock over Iran's suspect nuclear program Wednesday after Britain and France could not get Russia and China to agree on how to pressure Tehran to stop enriching uranium, diplomats said. Nonetheless, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she was confident the council could come to an agreement. "We will come up with a vehicle, I am quite certain of that," Rice said during a trip to the Bahamas. "We have work still to do. This is the natural course of diplomacy. If it takes a little longer, I'm not really concerned about that."

ETA announces end to terrorist campaign

VITORIA, Spain -- The Basque militant group ETA ended a decades-long campaign of terror, announcing a permanent cease-fire Wednesday that closes the door on one of Western Europe's last armed separatist movements. In a videotaped statement, three shrouded ETA (Euskadi Ta Azkatasuna, Basque Homeland and Freedom) members said they were laying down their weapons to promote democracy in the northern Spanish region. The news prompted jubilation across Spain, where ordinary citizens say they could hardly believe the end had come for a group blamed for more than 800 deaths and $15.5 billion in damage since the 1960s. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who has made granting more rule to Spain's regions a key goal, expressed caution and hope at ETA's statement. He was evasive when asked if he would start negotiating with ETA under an offer he made last year, contingent on the group renouncing violence.

Pfizer to hire more than 450 workers at Terre Haute inhalable insulin plant

TERRE HAUTE -- Pfizer Inc., the world's largest drugmaker, plans to hire more than 450 workers and invest $170 million at a western Indiana plant where it manufactures the nation's first inhalable version of insulin. Pfizer said Wednesday it will hire the workers over the next two to three years, boosting to about 650 the number of employees at its Exubera inhaler production line. It also plans to invest $170 million at the 120,000-square-foot Terre Haute plant by 2009. New York-based Pfizer received federal approval in late January to market the Exubera inhaler for controlling Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes in adults. The device offers the first new way of delivering insulin since the discovery of the hormone in the 1920s.